New place - Qatar!

I know I've emailed this to a few people, but I thought I should post it anyway for others who didn't get my email.

I have arrived in Qatar almost 3 weeks ago and I have been enjoying it so far. Flying with Qatar airways was like a treat!!

My accommodation is great! I have a brand new flat (wt just one bedroom, which is enough for me) wt a spacious living room and a beautiful kitchen. A lot of the new teachers live in the same building, so we have been getting together frequently to play games or just for a cup of tea. It feels like we have our own little community here! Everybody at school seems very nice and friendly; we were all taken for breakfast at the Ritz and dinners at fancy restaurants! I have met a lot of people - there's quite a large group of newbies this year (a lot of Scotts and I have to tune my ears to understand them!); we've been exploring the city together and trying to cope with a new school and new ways... Everybody is very nice and supportive! I was driving back home a few days ago (yes I have a car now!!) with Maite, my friend and we were saying how we both feel at peace with being here and things seem to fall into place. We both went to church on Friday (services are on Fridays) and we like it.

I met another Romanian girl here; she's been praying for a Romanian to come, so I guess her prayers were answered! :)

Last week at the souq this man in his 50s came up to me, together wt his two wives and actually wanted to take me to Saudi Arabiaas his 3rd wife!!!!!! Interesting offer, but I had to say no!! lol

Qatar is an interesting country; it has a lot of oil and gas (by the way, I pay around $7 to fill up my car wt petrol) and most Qataris are VERY rich! There's a few of them and most workers at the banks, shopping malls, drivers, cleaners etc are foreign - Indians, Phillippinos, Pakistani, Nepalese, Egyptians. It is clean here and I feel safe. Roads are fantastic, driving can be intimidating at times, as the Qataris drive huge SUVs and they drive FAST! I am still trying to find my way driving here; I got lost last week and drove for 3 hours straight trying to get somewhere.

I started art classes; I feel relaxed when I paint, so I thought I'd go for classes so I can actually get better at it.

I've been baking a lot since I arrived, although i havent brought measuring cups with me, so I am eyeing everything up; they don't seem to sell them here; I read this morning on the internet that some shop might have them but they're over $25!